Tire stitching apparatus



June 6, 1939. e. F. wmu-z 2,161,117

- TIRE STITCHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l i i' g yi, w &

I INVENTOI Q. [Z W j GEORGE F. WIKLE I I v 3 6 I ATTORNEYS.

I June 6, 1939. e. WIKLE' 2,161,117

TIRE sn'rcume APPARATUS I Filed Aug. 5, 1957 2 Shets-Shet 2 il h - mi. M

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7/ U INVENTOR.

1 1 //////v/ I "/i GEORGE PI M/[KLE A PatentedJune 6,1939 v T I2,161,117

UNITED STATES PATENF'TV OFFICE mesne assignments, to United StatesRubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey 4Application August 5, 1937, Serial No. 157,583

'5 Claims. (01. 154-10) This invention relates to pneumatic tirebuildpneumatic cylinder, taken along section line ing, and in particularto stitching means for IV -IV of Fig. 1; and

joining together the various constituents of a tire Fig.' is atransverse view, in section, of a carcass on a building drum. Ingeneral, the institcher carriage, taken along section line V-V 5 ventioncomprises means for stitching tire fabrics of Fig. 1. 5

in assembly with a tire building drum, said With reference to thedrawings, and in particu stitching means including an arrangement of larto Figs. 1 and 2, I show stitching apparatus of a stitching disc wherebycontrolled pressures my invention in operable position'in relation to aunder variably directed forces may be exerted tire building drum Imounted on a shaft 2 supagainst various surfaces of the tire buildingdrum. ported by a tire building frame 3., The stitching 10 In themanufacture of pneumatic tires it is beapparatus is supported by apedestal 4 which incoming general practice to build large size tiresdirectly supports stitching wheels 5 and 5 in according to the drummethod, as distinguished tangential relation with the tire building drumI. from the core method of building tires. In con- The stitching wheels5' and 6 are pivotally supventional practice of building heavy servicetires, ported at land 8 by the arms 9 and I0, respecl5 for example thosehaving eight or more fabric tively. The arm 9 n I i n, D v y plies,theplies are assembled upon the drum or mounted at H and I2 on a pair ofslidable carcore in individual layers supplied from a roll or riages I3and M, re pe y T rria es l3 other source of fabric. In the manufactureof a H are slidable in a direction p l t t 2 tires using the presentapparatus, the fabric plies axis f t d u l and are pp d by a second maybe first assembled in the form of pulley ba d carriage l5 movableradially of the drum l'. The constituting, for example, a pair of pliesof fabri carriages l3 and II are associated with a threaded splicedtogethe1- These puneybands' are axially shaft l6 having right andlefthand threads, so stretched Over the drum so that they fit snuglythat the carriages l3 and it move simultaneously across the face of thedrum, but at the marginal ember toward or away F h other 7 25 portionsthe fabric plies must be stitched to conhand wheel prowdes manualmeans,fr form to the shape of the shouldered drum surfaca tating thethreaded shaft I6 and for moving the ufl I m 1 carriages -l3 and It. Atthe end of the threaded e b ding d S for arse Slze tires shaft l6opposite the hand wheel H is a wheel l8 somewhat from the conventional tof bui drum in that they have undercut zigftions in the .wmch opemfltesm effect as fly wheel mcreas' region of the tire beads. In order toapply the tire fig gfgfigg giggg fi i rgg g gg g gg i irritat iilttmats: 255333; The g g ward or away from the buil ing rum an s 3;, igggzi g zigg s ggfi zgg i gfi 15 E g: slidably associated with a trackmember 19 posi- 3.)

im rtant a amtus for efiecgn {3 r assem tioned on top of the pedestalmember]. A shaft a the ig It is therefor: g g ob 20 mounted in a hub 2!extending fromzghe cart-1 i l5 h tta h d thereto a ear whic jects of myinvention provide an emcienfly fn eilies wit l i a racli 2 3 secured totl ie track memerating stttcher capaPle infecting 1 umform ber l9.Manual operating means in the form of a i a equa'hzed f agamst thevanous hand wheel 24 is secured to the opposite end of the stituents ofthe tire carcass on different surfaces h ft 2, the rotation f whichresults in move;

of the drumment of the carriage 15 either toward or away For a moredetailed description of my invention, from the drum reference may be hadtot e following description A pair of fluid operable cylinders 25 and 26are and ac ny drawings in whiohl attached to the carriages l3 and M,respectively, F 1 s a p View O Stitching apparatus for exerting pressureagainst the arms 9 and III corporating the embodiments of my invention;through secondary arms or projections 21 and 28 Fig. 2 is a sideelevational view thereof; extending from the arms 9 and I0,respectively.

F 3 i a p a vi p y in on-of the As shown more particularly in Fig. 4,the cylin- 50 stitching wheel in engagement with the marginal der 26,which is similar to cylinder 25, contains edge of a tiredrum, andshowing in dot-and-dash a piston 29 having a projection 30 in itsleading lines other positions assumed by the'stitching axial portion forengagement with the projecwheel; tion 28 of the arm I. Movement of theprojec- Fig. 4 is a longitudinal view, in section, of a tion 28 islimited by a stop shaft 3| having a resilient pad 32 secured theretoagainst which the projection 28 contacts. The stop shaft 3| (Fig. 1) isadjustable by means of the threaded rod 33 and lock nuts 34 which engagean arm 35 secured to the end of the stop shaft 3|. Fluid is admitted tothe cylinders 25' and 26 through flexible hose connections 36 and 31,respectively. A conventional valve 38 joins the hose connections 36 and31. Springs 38 and 40 attached to the arms ,9 and i6 normally maintainthe projections 21 and 28 against the projections 30 of the-pistons.

As shown in detail in Fig. 3, each of the stitcher wheels, as describedin connection with the wheel 6, is freely rotatable on its axis and issupported by a hub M. The hub M is pivoted at 8 at right angles to theaxis of the stitcher wheel 6. A plurality of notches 42 in the hub 6|are adaptable for complementary engagement with a latch member 43, theresult ,of which is to securethe hub member M in fixed relation with thearm iii. A lever Mi pivotally attached at $5 to the arm I6 joins withthe latch member 63 for providing manual means for releasing the latchmember from engagement with the hub M. normally retains the lever 44 ina position so as to maintain the hub ii in locked relation with the arml0. Due to the plurality of notches 62 in the hub member 6|, thestitcher wheel 6 may be moved into the various positions shown by thedot-and-dash line outlines M and 48. The dotand-dash line 49 spaced fromthe drum l indi cates the outer surface of the constituents forming thetire carcass.

In assembling fabric plies on the drum I, the stitching wheels 5 and 6and their associated mechanisms are moved to their normal position outof contact engagement with the drum I. The plies, in spliced pairs offabric layers in the form of pulley bands, are successively stretchedand mounted on the drum I so that they conform tightly to the face ofthe drum. The underlying plies are thus automatically made to conformwith the face of the drum by the pressure of being stretched thereon,while their edges in the region of the bead portion of the tire arestitched down by the action of the stitcher wheels. When two or moreplies are assembled on the drum I, the operator manipulates the handwheels l1 and 24 for bringing the stitcher wheels 5 and 6 into contactengagement with the assembled plies neartheir edges. The valve 38 isoperated to permit fluid under pressure to enter the cylinders 25 and26. This valve is permitted to remain open throughout the entire.building operation. In performing this operation the operator controlsmovement of the stitcher wheels by manipulating the hand wheels I! and24 simultaneously.

The projection 28 extending from the arm l6, due to the operation of thecylinder 26,- is normally positioned so that the projection 28 is incontact engagement with the resilient pad 32. However, when the handwheels are so manipulated that the stitcher wheelsare forced against thetire constituents near the shoulder of the drum, the projection 28 movesaway from the pad 32,- resulting in a cushioning effect and uniformpressure of the stitching wheels against the the constituents. This isof importance when the various irregularitiesof the assembled tireelements are considered; as, for example, splices in the fabric pliesand irregularities occurring around the shoulder of the drum from thetire head. The structure and function of the cylinder 25 is similar tothe cylinder 26, and the pro jection 21 extending from the arm 9cooperates A spring 46 with the cylinder 25 in the same manner as theprojection 28 cooperates with the cylinder 26. Another advantage of thecylinders 25 and 26 is that equalized pressure between the differentstitching wheels is obtained.

When it is desired to stitch the fabrics at the marginal area of thedrum, the axis of the stitching wheels may be varied, as shown in Fig.3. These variations permit the discs or wheels 5 and 6 to engage thefabric on the drum face, on shoulders and behind the shoulderssubstantially tangentially with a uniform pressure. This operation isperformed manually, and is easily and quickly accomplished by theoperator with one hand. After the first pulley band of fabric plies hasbeen stitched down around the shoulder portions of the drum I,successive pulley bands are applied and laid down in a similar manner.

When the final ply is reached, the stitching wheels 5 and 6 are broughttogether at the central plane of the drum I and are moved outwardlytoward the marginal portions thereof. During this operation, the handwheel 24 remains in a fixed position, while the necessary adjustment maybe effected merely by controlling the hand wheel I! to move the stitcherwheels5 and 6 axially with respect to the surface to be stitched. Theforce produced by the stitcher engaging the drum is such that theprojection 28 extending from the arm l0 bears directly against the stop.equalize the pressure of both stitchers against each shoulder of thedrum, butalso to limit the amount of pressure which may be exertedagainst the stitchers in this operation. The pneumatic cylinders 25 and26 operate in this region in order to prevent the operator from exertingsuflicient pressure on the stitcher wheels against the two pliesasembled on the drum to cut or detrimentally crush the cords of thefabric. This twofold function of the pneumatic cylinder comes into playonly at the shoulder region of the drum, where it is needed, especiallybecause of the presence of the hard surfaces of the bead wire in thatregion.

While I have shown a present preferred embodiment of the invention, itis understood that it is susceptible of such modifications as may appearobvious, except as limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent is: 1. In a tire building machine, the combinationwith a tire building drum of a stitching means comprising a pair ofstitcher wheels, means for moving the stitcher wheels radially of thedrum,

stitcher wheel supporting arms mounted for pivotal movement inthe planeof the drum axis, a support for each pivot, means for moving the pivotsupports lengthwise of the drum, and cushioning means cooperating withthe arms for regulating their movements about the pivots.

2. In a tire building machine, the combination with a tire building drumof a stitching means comprising a pair of stitcher Wheels. means formoving the stitcher wheels radially of the drum, stitcher wheelsupporting arms mounted for pivotal movement in the plane of the drumaxis, a support for each pivot, means for moving the pivot supportslengthwise of the drum, and fluid operable'cushioning means cooperatingwith the arms for regulating their movements about the pivots. I I

3. In a tire building machine, the combination with a tire building drumof stitching means comprising a pair of arms adaptable for pivotalmovement in' the axial plane of the drum, a stitcher wheel mounted atthe end of each arm in tangential relation with the drum, a pair ofcarriages adaptable for reciprocal movement lengthwise of the drum forsupporting each of said arms, a second carriage movable radially of thedrum forsupporting the first named carriages, a secondary arm projectingfrom each of the first named arms, and a cylinder and a fluid operablepiston working in the cylinder for engagement with each of the secondaryarms whereby a cushioning medium is provided between the stitcher wheelsand the means for moving the wheels against the drum.

carriages adaptable ior reciprocal movement lengthwise of the drum forsupporting. each of said arms, a second carriage movable radially of thedrum for supporting the first named carriages, a secondary armprojecting from each of the first named arms, and a cylinder and a.fluid operable piston working in-the cylinder for engagement with eachof the secondary arms whereby a cushioning medium is provided betweenthe stitcher wheels and the means for moving the wheels against thedrum.

5. In a tire building machine, the combination with a tire building drumof stitching means comprising a pair of arms adaptable for pivotalmovement in the axial plane vof the drum, a stitcher wheel mounted attheend of each arm in tangential relation with the drum, a hub pivotallyattached to each of the arms for supporting the stitcher wheels, theaxis of the pivot extending substantially at right angles to the axis ofthe drum, said hubs having notches therein for securing same in variablepositions relative to the arms, a pair of carriages adaptable forreciprocal movement lengthwise of the drum for supporting each of saidarms, a second carriage movable radially of the drum for supporting thefirst named carriages, a secondary arm projecting from each of the,first named arms, and a cylinder and a fluid operable piston working inthe cylinder for engagement with each of the secondary arms whereby acushioning medium is provided between the stitcher wheels and the meansfor moving the wheels against the drum.

GEORGE F. WIKLE.

